Breakfast junkie

I've always been a lark - early to rise and early to bed. Being middle aged with a young child has intensified this pattern, as junior's awake and wanting attention early in the morning and I'm quite ready for bed before 10pm. So I don't really have much use for those energy drinks which are supposed to keep young people going through an all-nighter. A few years ago , in a bachelor pub sesh, I forsook my usual tipple to try the vodka and Red Bull mixture that was popular then and, for all I know of current trends, still is. Didn't like the taste, but the effect of the alcohol, sugar and caffeine combo wasn't unpleasant at first. I'd rather get the hit from an Irish coffee, though. The downside was that I was up and buzzing at a very anti-social time in the early morning. I remember getting up to wash the car at about 4.00am.

I do still get a similar hit, but without the alcohol and at a time which doesn't completely mess up my body clock. At a weekend, I get my caffeine fix with added sugar rush from a breakfast of strong coffee and pancakes with maple syrup. I might add other things (blueberries, etc) but those are the basic ingredients. I don't normally have much of a sweet tooth, but I'll make an exception for maple syrup, especially when complemented by the dark bitterness of filter coffee. What a fantastic combo. Apart from the taste experience being infinitely better, more complex and subtle than an energy drink out of a can, you've got the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee and the ritual of making pancakes and coffee - as a junkies everywhere will tell you, the preparation rituals are an integral part of the drug experience. I need to ration myself - too much of this sort of thing takes the edge off it - but on a pancake and coffee morning, the day feels lighter, brighter, more exciting and interesting. And the effects have worn off long before I should be tucked up in bed, asleep.

So let's hear it for that unknown Ethiopian long ago who first discovered what you could do with an unpromising-looking bean and for all those Canadians out there, patiently tapping the mighty sugar maples for their precious sap - thanks, guys for a breakfast so good it makes you want to sing, sing sing!